Smokers should not exhale while driving in Taiwan

People in Taiwan caught smoking while driving on ‘busy roads’ will be liable to a fine of NT$600 under a package of amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act due to come into force next year, according to a story in The China Post.

The sequence of actions involved in smoking while driving, such as lighting a cigarette, exhaling smoke and holding a cigarette, are all punishable acts under the new rules.

The Post said that according to the text of the amendments, the critical point was whether others were affected by these acts, which were most applicable to busy roads. The penalties were to be applied only when other people were in close proximity to the smoking driver because the object of the exercise was to protect other road users.

Meanwhile, the United Evening News reported that the dangers the Department of Railways and Highways had in mind when designing the measures to protect other road users included ash floating into the eyes of pedestrians.

Additionally, it was thought that people who were near a smoker might be burnt by the sparks flying off a cigarette, and that traffic safety might be impacted by the smoke.

The department was said to have made the new rules after receiving ‘several’ complaints from the public. The date for the imposition of the new rules has not been set but it is expected to fall sometime in the first half of next year.